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At this time of year, a blustery and cold January day with gray skies and flurries, gardening seems a long way off. Not really though. There is a number of things to be done right now like pruning of trees, shrubs, and ornamental grasses. If you haven’t sharpened saws, shovels, and shears or those lawn mower blades do it now. Lawn and garden can be cleaned up and inspected whenever you can tolerate the outdoors. Seeds of varying plants are planted indoors now through early May. Most seeds of typical vegetable and flower varieties are begun in late March or early April. There are flowers like petunias, begonias, and geraniums that are seeded in December/January.

To be honest, I am cold and have no enthusiasm for gardening until I can be outside with just a jacket or sweater. I won’t give a hoot until there is sunshine and hospitable weather. Seed catalogs aren’t even interesting. I am like this every year so I know that all my chores have to be done in the fall. I clean up all the containers and pots, clean the garden, put the tools away clean and sharpened into the proper place in the garage or shed, decide which bird feeders and houses need repair and at least hope to have pruned the shrubs. When spring approaches, I am ready, ready, ready. Right now, though I don’t care. The winds are howling and its is below zero. I belong in the house, warm and snug.

How will this winter’s low temperatures effect the survival of insects? Because insect species are varied, winter conditions bring about different survival rates. Along with sub zero temperatures other conditions include number of days below freezing, was the winter unusually warm, has it been dry or wet over much of the season. The Emerald Ash Borer will be an interesting subject. The EAB adult feed on ash tree leaves. The eggs are laid in bark crevices and under bark flaps on the trunk or branches. The eggs hatch into a larvae (borer) and feed on the cambium layer just under the bark. The borer forms a prepupal larvae and overwinter in outer sapwood or under bark of thick barked trees. It is the survival of this stage we have in question. The unknown is just how cold a temperature can the larvae tolerate and how many days in total or in succession below a determined temperature are needed to kill the larvae. You have heard the phrase ‘ what doesn’t kill us serves to make us stronger’. Will this be the case with the EAB. A percentage will probably die because of the sub zero temps but a mighty number will survive. It is these numbers that may be tougher than ever. Encouraging news is that native birds are becoming EAB predators. The woodpecker and nuthatch are feeding on the EAB. Also two species of wasps, known to be EAB predators in native Asia, were released around the Detroit area. They have become established. It has been determined that these tiny wasps have successfully produced offspring and they continue to increase in numbers. The ash tree will survive. Some will be lost but not all. I am sure we will have a blog coming this spring or summer further describing the outcome of this winters effects on EAB numbers.

For further information on any gardening subject call your county UI Extension office

Now that fall is here the gardener and lawn curator has just about as much work now as spring presented. The time is short so don’t wait too long. Get a move on. Here are some of the duties that await.

LAWN – Continue to mow the lawn at a height of 2″ (longer grass will lay over under the snow and invite fungus diseases). Apply the final winterizer fertilizer around Thanksgiving after the final mowing. If you have taken a soil sample and the report recommends a lime application now is the time. Clean the mover of debris, oil and dirt. Sharpen the blades. Run the gas out of the tank and remove the spark blug (this will keep gunk from building up). If you would rather not rake and bag fallen leaves, use the lawn mower to shred the leaves. Shredded leaves have beneficial effects for the lawn. The leaves lying in heavy bunches should be scattered or bagged.

TREES – In dry conditions continue watering trees and shrubs until the ground freezes. This is especially important to broadleaf (e.g. boxwood) and needled evergreens. If trees and shrubs have had a tough summer and are struggling with health issues, apply a slow release fertilizer. Wrap the trunks of young smooth barked trees to prevent sunscald and frost cracking. This will also discourage insects from over wintering on or under the tender bark. Remove the wrap in early spring. Install barriers to control rabbits and rodent feeding. Protect tender evergreens from winter winds and excessive snow build up by installing burlap windscreens around the plant and spraying an anti-desiccant to the needles or leaves. The anti-desiccant usually needs to be reapplied mid winter. Read label for application instructions especially relating to air temperature. After the soil has frozen apply a 3 inch or so layer of organic matter such as evergreen needles or shredded leaves over and around tender plants.

GARDENS – When gardening for small fruits, vegetables and flowers sanitation is the key word in prevention of diseases, insects, and weeds. Remove spent plants, prune away unproductive stems of brambles and dispose of fallen leaves, stems and weeds. Have a soil test of the garden’s soil and apply corrective measures as test report suggests . Dig, cure and prepare tender bulbs for winter storage. Empty container pots, clean and store out of winter weather to preserve for next spring. A fresh pot of soil or soilless potting mix is recommended the next spring. The new potting mix will be free of diseases and insects and have optimum conditions for good plant growth and production.

INDOORS – Poinsettias need a period of darkness for flower formation before Christmas. For 10 weeks, 15 hours each day, keep the plant in total darkness and DO NOT peek. The other 9 hours of the 24 hour cycle, the plant needs to receive the light from a window (light from a north window is too weak). Outdoor container plants that you want to overwinter as living plants indoors should be brought into the house as your indoor temperature approximates the night time temperature outdoors. If your home is kept at 70 degrees bring the plants in when the outdoor night temperature is around 70 degrees. This will prevent the shock of a sudden change in temperature the plant will feel. An abrupt change in temperature will signal the plant to drop leaves and drop leaves it will all over the floor. Of course the outdoor plants need a good cleaning for dirt and bugs before bringing indoors. So get busy.

For more complete information on any of the afore mentioned, call your county Extension office. Peoria County 685-3140; Tazewell County 347-6614; Fulton County 547-3711; Mason County 543-3308

The Dig It blog is written by members of the University of Illinois Master Gardeners of Peoria, Tazewell, Mason and Fulton counties. Last Thursday-Saturday we attended the annual MG conference held in Moline Illinois. We do this to increase our horticulture knowledge and to mingle with other Master Gardeners. It is relatively easy to become a MG and beginning in Jan. of 2014 you too can begin your process of becoming a MG. The basic requirements are to complete 60 hours of horticulture instruction and upon completion volunteer 40 hours of service within two years in gardening programs. There is a fee for the training. After completing all of this you are deemed a MG. Continuing education and volunteer time are a continuing requirement. The program offers valuable horticulture education and is personally satisfying. Contact your county Extension office for registration.

I mentioned the MG State Conference was held in Moline this year but there are additional meetings throughout the year. A Midwest conference will be in Minnesota followed by a National conference and a International conference as the MG program is in a number for foreign lands. The Illinois Master Gardeners have the opportunity, most years, to travel abroad as a group to gardens of many countries.

Required volunteer hours are usually served within the county you reside but there may be programs of another county that interest you. For instance a gardening telephone help-line is open Monday through Friday, April through September at the Peoria county Extension office but gardeners from surrounding counties are encouraged to staff the line as well. There are so many opportunities for volunteer service. There are gardening programs at Wildlife Prairie Park, Jubilee Park, Luthy Botanical Park, ICC demonstration garden, community gardens, school programs, speakers bureau. Program subjects may be centered around wildlife habitat, prairie plantings, growing foods for the public, herbs, urban beautification and the list goes on.

Call, e-mail and or visit your county Extension office when looking for gardening information or for answers to your gardening questions. Visit our web site web.extension.illinois.edu/fmpt/ Would you like to become a Master Gardener!

We all feel the pressure of the summer’s heat and we understand that there is a drought occurring. Do we give thought to how this difficult weather pattern is affecting plant and animal? The fall color of leaves will be less beautiful, trees are under extreme stress and some are dying. Birds and other animals are at a loss for food and water. Insects are compromised. Our lawns are brown and unappealing but will revive with rain and cooler temperatures. People who rely on wells for water are having to restrict water usage in their home and maybe hauling water to supplement a low well. Farmers are hauling water daily to livestock who are grazing in poor pasture under high heat with no natural source for water. Rivers and streams are less hospitable to the usual aquatic life.

We see things from the top down. What is more unappealing to our eyes than a brown lawn. We are startled when a favorite tree is looking poorly and we are afraid it is dying. What will happen if we lose the shade? We are feeling personal discomforts but maybe not giving due thought to what is happening in the wider circle of life around us. A brown lawn isn’t the beginning of trouble. Brown is a symptom of what trouble began late summer of 2011. Even though there were ample rains this past spring, which were a real life savor, we have not shaken the fact that the effects of heat and drought are a part of all life. We may be the top of the chain but remember we are supported by every link of that chain. A plant produces seed and the seed produces a plant. The plant supports insects and animals, reduces pollution, buffers earth’s surface temperature, etc. Plants feed every living thing, including us.

Now for the good news. Insects, like the Japanese beetle, have trouble laying eggs in dry hot ground. Fewer eggs will hatch into grubs. There will be fewer grubs to feed on our lawns this summer and fewer adult Japanese beetles next summer to feed on our sissy little plants.

Well, I am very thankful for moderate temperatures and sufficient rainfall. This makes our gardening and landscape care so much easier, except for weeding. Weeds in the country are Sooooo abundant. Plants have to work with whatever climate nature throws at them. High and low temperatures are the two factors to watch, especially in vegetables and fruits. Tomatoes and peppers struggle with night temperatures below 60 degrees and day above 85 degrees. Pollen sperm is damaged or killed with high heat of 90 degrees and that eliminates fertilization and fruit set. Low and high temperatures stress a plant’s ability to grow well. A plant grows 24/7 but most actively at night. In the day the plant collects energy through photosynthesis making carbohydrates to convert into sugar and starches for cell production which aid in development of plant tissue, color, fragrance, reproductive features (flowers and seeds which result in fruit and vegetable formation), etc. With high day temps the plant spends a majority of its gained energy on survival leaving little for growth (fewer, smaller, and slower to ripen fruits and vegetables). At the Extension office a very frequent gardener question is ‘ why are my tomatoes not ripening?’. We tell them that when day temps decline resuming to more normal of 80 or so then, the tomatoes will resume their normal growth processes. There is nothing we can do about temperature, except offer shading in the afternoon. We can reduce moisture stress and low soil fertility. Remember that water is what carries dissolved fertilizer from the soil up into the plant. Provide adequate water when fertilizing.

I am recommending a University of Illinois Extension web site to all our readers. It is http://hyg.ipm./Illinois.edu Home, Yard, and Garden Newsletter. The subjects covered will be whatever is pertinent for the time of season. Register your e-mail address and become a subscriber. The newsletter is published April through September. E-mail us at uiemg-peoria@illinois.edu, telephone 685-3140 Monday through Friday 9am til 12 noon, or visit us at the Peoria County UI Extension office, 4810 N. Sheridan, Peoria